The Professor Ch. 12

That was the second time tonight he'd been so dead on – my eyes smarted and burned. I got choked up, "Yes sir," I could barely speak.

He leaned forward and patted my arm, "I know this is difficult. She is a sweet woman who dearly loves you. You two can rise above this Son."

"I know Dad but it hurts my heart that someone would do that to her," I confided.

"That's what was on your heart the other night wasn't it," he probed me.

"Yes sir," I was sullen.

"Steven she won't like it one little bit if you go on the prod for her family – even though they're estranged and there are hard feelings they're still her family – don't forget it," he warned me.

We talked until Mom and Lissia came out all buttoned up wearing a robe and the PJ's. It was late. Mom and Dad kissed us goodnight and I retrieved the bed linens and pillows. Lissia and I made up the sleeper sofa afterward I changed into my PJ's and a robe which I never wore. We got under the covers and talked for several hours. I told her what I promised Dad – she was so sweet about it, "We should be respectful of your parents." It was the first time that we spent the night together.

We slept like farm hands – we had had a full day. I let her sleep the next morning while I made coffee and started browning bacon and beating the eggs to scramble. The aroma of the freshly brewed coffee woke her up. I went over and kissed her good morning – she was an early riser and got up quickly and began stripping the bed, folding the sheets and we folded the sofa bed into the frame. In a few minutes she came back out face washed and wearing her sun dress. We had breakfast with Dad and she headed home. I told her I would see her in a few hours to finish the lawn. Mom and Dad were very loving toward Lissia – they were worried about her too for fear of what Dad had asked about her not thinking that black men were worth the effort.

I spoke at length to Mom and Dad while they ate breakfast. They both wanted to make sure that I knew that they wanted to go with us on Saturday. I thanked them but told them we'd call if we needed them. I got up and got changed to go work on Lissia's lawn; told Mom and Dad goodbye and headed out.

When I got to Lissia's she said she had a doctor's appointment and would be back in a few hours. She sort of left abruptly - without a kiss. I wondered what had happened. I mowed, raked and trimmed the lawn; collected the grass clippings and began laying out the beds with an old garden hose cutting in the outline with a foot-driven edger – it looks like a flattened out hoe with a quarter moon-shaped blade. I had cut the shape in and was digging out the first cut with a mattock when she pulled into the driveway. She got out of her car and ran over to me in tears.

"What's wrong baby?"

"I...I...I'm so sorry," she bawled.

"For what?" I led her to the swing on the porch.

"Oh Steven I had this terrible burning in my vagina...I thought...oh I'm so embarrassed," she wasn't making any sense. "I thought you have given me a disease," she spat out.

It was like a punch in the stomach, "What!? I've never had sex before us." I was stunned.

"I know...I am sorry please forgive me?" she begged.

"How could you think that of me," I asked her quietly.

"Oh Steven, please listen to me...I got so scared," she begged me, "please listen to me I need to tell you everything."

She opened her purse and handed me her prescription bottle and I read the label, 'Take one 250 mg capsule four times a day for cystitis. Stay out of the sun. Drink plenty of fluids.' I looked at her, "What is cystitis?"

"Dr. Andres called it 'honeymoon cystitis' – it's a urinary tract infection from too much sex," she confessed.

I felt awful for several reasons one was the obvious distrust she had of me and the other that she was in pain from this infection, "Let's get you in out of the sun baby." We went just inside the door and I kissed her sweetly, "Let me finish this work and we can talk – is that okay I asked her?"

After I finished the lawn layout and digging the new flower beds I quit for the day taking a seat on the front steps to pull off my soggy boots. I had gotten my 'sweat towel' from the car and was mopping my face when Lissia brought ice water out to me, "Here baby," as she handed me the water. She sat the pitcher down next to me then took a seat by my side.

"Thank you sweetheart," I breathed out. I was exhausted today; the heat, humidity and in part the emotional strain had beat me down. I poured some ice water on the towel and draped it over my head.

Lissia was upset, "Steven I am sorry for the way I acted. I made an assumption that was damned wrong will you forgive me?"

I looked at her sadness and saw both pains. I held herr sweet sorrow in my hands and kissed her lips, "Of course – Lissia I love you so much I can't help but forgive you – you're my life. I want no one else. You have to know how much it hurts me to see you suffering and to also think that you would think that I'd cheat on you or lie to you. I got a double-whammy."

She threw her arms around my sweaty neck and shoulders, "Oh baby I know it...I really do – I wish I could take back what I thought...but it's like my daddy said once 'when you slap someone's face they never forget it.' I am so sorry for hurting you..."

I kissed her slowly, her kiss was very passionate. I'd never known the kiss of forgiveness before. It's not like the one of lust; it's like your souls are exploring one another to make sure that all the anger and hurt has gone away and you want to make it right with each other. We sat holding each other on the steps, with a cold, sweating water pitcher between us. When we relaxed our hold Lissia took the towel from my head and poured some cold water on it, wrung it out and dabbed its coolness on all the hotspots on my face and head. Finally she whispered, "Let's go in and get you cleaned up – I don't want you working any more today even if you do it to relieve your tension baby. You need a shower and some iced tea and I need my Steven."

She had me. I stood up taking the water pitcher with me. I put my sweaty arm around her and she pulled me tightly to her. Love means warts and all; not some of the times but all of the times when it is hard to say 'I love you'. I learned again.

After I showered and changed into the 'extra clothes' I always carried for after the lawn work Lissia and I sat in the shade on the side porch on her glider. I put my feet up on a cable spool she had appropriated for a 'coffee table' and she laid with her head in my lap and her knees bent. The windows were open in the house and we could hear the record player as it offered Etta's sad, sweet voice to us. We worked through how we'd resolve those thorny issues like the one that just happened. We both knew that our growing edge was caution which translates into trust. This meant that everything had to come out into the open or we'd have no chance as a couple. We committed ourselves to making that growing edge our strength and not our weakness. We talked about Saturday and how we'd approach meeting her Mom and Dad and we devised our plan.

"Steven I don't know if I can abstain from sex for a week," she confessed.

"I know...the truth is I'm addicted to your sweet lovin'," I grinned and kissed her nose and then her lips. "But you have to remember what the doc said...I don't want this infection to become a bladder infection or kidney disease."

We roused ourselves and ran a few errands and stopped by the nursery to pick up the first round of plants for the beds. The folks at the nursery were surprised by our pairing – we obviously weren't a yardman and his client. No one said anything or refused to help us but the tension and shock was palpable. We just smiled and were gracious as they helped us load the plants and organic materials into the trunk of my car. Back at the house we unloaded everything – we had a light supper and lounged around for a while. I went home around ten – kissing her slowly and thoroughly goodnight.

Friday was spent planting and talking and getting ready for Saturday. As I left Friday night we agreed that I would meet Lissia at 0630 to drive to her parents' farm an hour and a half away. About 10:30 Friday evening Lissia called me to tell me that she had talked with her Momma and told her that 'we' were coming. Her Momma told her to 'come on home' even if she was bringing 'blue eyes'. Mothers are the same everywhere – they love their babies even if they bring their troubles home with them. Lissia and talked for about an hour. Mom and Dad talked with her a bit too, just for some assurance that everything would be alright. Lissia was gravitating in trust toward my parents and I like that a lot. I was proud of where my parents had come in their trust of me and their love for Lissia – I wouldn't have believed it could happen but it was right in front of my eyes. I told her, "Good night baby. I love you. I hope you know that and I will do whatever we need to do to keep us safe and happy."

My sleep was non-existent. I tossed and turned like a fish on a hook. When I finally got up around four my bed looked like it had been tied into knots. I made it up and got into my running clothes for a short run. I put the coffee pot on and took off in the still, humid South Texas air. I finally blew through the barrier of physical tiredness to a refreshing place that has become known as a 'runner's high.' I walked the last two hundred yards to the house and went inside to shower and shave. Dad and Mom were up. I kissed them good morning and we had breakfast together. All the words had been spoken about safety and love and perseverance. They trusted my decision-making and told me as I left for Lissia's to bring her back here for the night. They were determined to keep her heart comforted. I told them I would.

I got to Lissia's at 0600. She was waiting for me. She'd had the same kind of restless night as I did. We met on her porch and held each other tightly – her body felt fragile and tiny in my arms as she trembled slightly, "Oh Steven thank you. I'm so happy to see you baby." We kissed passionately and she held onto me as though I was leaving forever.

"I love you Lissia – you're mi Corazon," I didn't smile much I was tense as well. "How is the cystitis this morning?"

She smiled a little, "It still hurts but I'm taking my medicine...Steven I'm so sorry for the way I acted to you about that...I feel so awful baby...I know how wrong I am for thinking that," she was still smarting from the sharpness of her own rebuke.

"Baby we're okay. You and I didn't know each other very well when we first made love did we?" I asked her.

She shook her head with her lips in a tight grimace, "No we didn't."

"So did you know for absolute certain that I was a virgin or that I was clean?" I pushed a scary line.

"No I guess not," she whispered, "but Steven that's twice I could have lost you and this one would have been the worst."

"But it didn't happen did it?" I smiled to her as I watched her heart aching.

"You're right," she kissed me sweetly and passionately and we held each other closely.

I parted us, "Baby how about packing a small bag with some overnight clothes? Mom and Dad..."

She pointed to her bag on the floor, "I did already. I called your house to see if you'd left and your sweet Momma told me to pack some clothes for church that I was coming home with you."

I breathed out, "Oh my God."

I bent over with my hands on my knees and she grabbed me, "Steven! Baby are you okay?!"

I stood up nodding, "Yeah I just had a moment there. Anxiety. I'd get these before big games. I'll be okay."

She hugged me, "We don't have to go..."

I put my finger to her lips this time and she blinked and her intensity softened as she whispered, "I forgot who I was with for a moment – a real man."

"For a real woman," I smiled, "Let's go baby and show your parents who we are."

We took my car up US290 toward Hempstead and turned onto FM3346 and then to FM1887 for about a mile or so. The road leading up to their farm was about a mile long, "Is this your Daddy's land?"

"Yeah all this on both side of Wright Road," she traced her finger along the fields, "there's some pickers out there now looks like the cantaloupes are coming in."

This is a big farm, "How many acres does your Dad farm?"

"Well among he and his brothers they farms about 1800 and the other 1400 or so is pasture and coastal Bermuda grass for hay," she was very casual.

"This is a big spread," I noted aloud but mostly to myself.

"I don't miss it," she growled, taking my hand, "it's not too late to turn back baby."

Her hands were damp and I looked at her face, bead of perspiration had popped out on her upper lip and it was quivering, "We'll do this together baby."

The farm house was big with a wraparound porch, now I understood why she had one for her own home. There was a huge red gravel parking area that accommodated pick up trucks, two ton dump trucks and all sorts of farm implements and wagons. There were six outbuildings – four of which were pole barns for hay and melons. The other two were for some horses and a few milk cows plus their rolling stock. This was a three storage silo farm – nothing cheap here, "I raised my eyebrows. I guess we're here."

She winced, "Yep," and let out a long breath. We left the windows cracked to let the heat out but keep the flies out as well.

I got out and went around to her door and held it for her, "Let's go baby – it's show and tell time."

"Well it looks like you got yourself an early riser baby," it was her Momma, Elsbeth Mercy Wright. She ran up the steps to her Momma and hugged her, crying on her shoulder, her Momma patting her back as I walked up behind her, "Now, now baby girl you home now, ain't nothing to it okay?"

I waited patiently smiling to her Momma with no reciprocation from Miss Elsbeth as she preferred to be called. Finally Lissia and her Momma let loose of one another, "Momma this is Steven Edwards. Steven this is my Momma."

I took off my straw Resistol® and extended my hand, "Good morning Mrs. Wright, it's a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

She half-smiled, "Likewise Mr. Edwards."

"Please call me Steven ma'am," I smiled

"Uh huh, I will Steven," it sounded like she was trying to get a hair off of her tongue when she uttered my name.

Great start. Lissia took my hand, "Where's Daddy Momma?"

She tossed her head to the side, "At the pole barns if you want to see him."

"Momma let's us sit down for a minute...we need to talk," Lissia was squeezing the feeling out of my fingers.

We sat at the kitchen table and Lissia poured us each some coffee. Mrs. Wright watched me suspiciously as she measured out four teaspoons of sugar into her coffee. She made it the way I enjoy it – strong. I took a swig and nodded.

She smiled, "Like that black coffee like you like your women Mister?"

"How's that's ma'am?" I asked her.

"Strong, hot and black?" she grinned.

I blushed, "Yes ma'am I guess that's very true – great metaphor."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh child not another one of those book heads."

Lissia laughed, "Hardly just a book head Momma. Stephen works three and four part-time jobs to pay for his education – he's not a stranger to hard work Momma."

"Well I didn't know if those Lee Riders, boots and hat were for show or not," she stared at me.

"If I can't use these clothes to work in, go to school in or go to church in I don't own them," I told her.

"What about that fancy hat?" she pushed it.

"Dad gave it to me for Christmas. I wear it when I'm going to nice places ma'am...when I need to look presentable," I smiled thinly.

She looked dead at me, "You bedding my baby girl?"

"Mrs. Wright I respect you because you're Phylissia's mother and you're my elder. My parents raised me to be a gentleman. I won't discuss with you or any other person the details of my relationship with Phylissia – I love her. If she wants you to know something Mrs. Wright she can tell you whatever she wants to but I don't talk and I'd prefer it ma'am if we could keep our conversation polite," I was getting provoked and I knew it but this was Phylissia. My parents never embarrassed Phylissia.

Lissia looked at her Momma, "I tried to warn you Momma. Don't mess with him. I told you that I told Steven about the rape and what it did to me and as you can see he didn't run away like you said. Momma I don't want this to be a fight. I love Steven – he is respectful and loving to me and his parents told me that because their son loves me that they love me – that they trust him to do the right thing always and you know what Momma? He does and I do too."

Her Momma's eyes began tearing up, "Oh child I never thought I'd see the day when you'd fall in love with anyone..." her voice trailed off.

"You mean especially a white man Momma," she pushed her Momma.

Her Momma nodded and blubbered out, "Yes."

"The truth is Momma Major Edwards challenged me to think about if I was dating Steven because no black man was good enough for me. I can answer that today easily. I date Steven because I am in love with him..." she was crying now too.

"Mrs. Wright, Lissia and I are going to be married even if we have to go to Maine or New York to get married we will. The state of Texas is wrong not to allow us to get married and if you're against our marriage on the basis of our racial difference then you're no better than those legislators who make up those irrational laws," I held my ground.

I had gotten her attention, "You know how many babies been born to black women that white slave masters put in 'em?"

"I have no idea. But I have to tell you something - I know a little bit about slavery and black landowners and this farm has been around a while. I suspect that this is not a 'forty acres and a mule' farm there's way too much land. Which one of your great grandparents was the free black owner of this land? I don't gamble Mrs. Wright but I smell a rat here and you're playing a game with me," I stared at her and she looked at her coffee stirring it furiously.

"Momma?" Lissia spoke sharply to her Momma. "Steven asked you a question. You always told me that it was rude not to answer when we're asked a question," Lissia pushed hard.

She nodded and looked at me, "You're a smart boy aren't you Mr. Edwards? Did Lissia tell you about our family?"

"No ma'am I had no idea how big your spread was and to answer the smart part of your question – I read a lot and that is an area of American history that gets overlooked especially when it doesn't fit the political agendas of the day. You see I know that there were black confederate units that fought at Fredericksburg," I watched her swallow hard.

"Steven is a history and mathematics major Momma – Dean's List – working on his bachelors and masters degrees at the same time. So you can't bullshit him Momma. I didn't tell him about our family except the rape part – the part that has torn me out of this family," her heart was breaking. I rubbed her back as she held onto my other hand. I never heard Mr. Wright come in but I stared at him. He's a tall, broad shoulder, dark skinned man with big, hard working hands and a steady gaze. Lissia saw him and didn't stand, "Hi Daddy this is Steven. Steven this is my Daddy Mr. Cyrus Wright."

I stood and extended my hand and he actually shook it, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Wright." He didn't smile or blink he just sat down – Elsbeth got up and poured him some coffee.

"Why are you here Mr. Edwards? You trying to rub our nose in the dirt?" he was insolent.

"Why would I do that Mr. Wright?" I pushed him.

"Well you some rich white boy got lucky with our Ph.D. daughter and you think you can waltz in here like you own this place acting all high and mighty?" he glared at me.